Love Is
by Amanda Hawthorn
Summary: This one shot takes place just after the hotel scene with the declined bath share…need I say more! Spoilers for 5x11


**Disclaimer: Burn Notice still doesn't belong to me**

**Rating T**

**Spoilers for 5x11.**

**A/N: I just loved Better Halves. It has to be my favourite episode of all time. This one shot takes place just after the hotel scene with the declined bath share…need I say more!**

**Thanks as always to the incredibly talented Purdy's Pal who read through this for me**

Love is…

She had the ability to turn his whole world upside down with a single word and he doubted she even knew it. So many changes had happened within the last few months that sometimes he had to stop what he was doing just to take a breath.

He'd seen the resignation in her face when he'd turned down her invitation to share a bath with her. If they hadn't have been on a job and if he hadn't have had to type up these boring notes that he was attempting to do right now, then he wouldn't have hesitated.

But it was the sad acceptance in her soft _'okay'_ that was haunting him right now. He was used to frustration and slamming doors, not…this.

Shaking off the fatigue he finished typing up the notes and sat back against the sofa with a heavy sigh. Sometimes he couldn't understand why she stayed with him. She was a beautiful woman who turned more than a few heads whenever they were out together. She could have any man she wanted, but she had chosen him. This stunning, passionate woman wanted to spend her life by his side and even to this day he thanked whoever was listening for her presence in his life.

Any other man would have thrown their laptops into a heap, consequences be damned…but he wasn't like other men.

Another man would have taken what she offered and walked away, leaving her alone when passions were spent. Another man wouldn't take their time to watch her face when she was immersed in him, showering him with everything that made his whole existence worthwhile. Another man wouldn't take the time to kiss her slowly, or worship her body the way she deserved to be adored. Any other man couldn't ever love her as much as he did.

Closing off the laptop he looked down at his watch and listened for any signs of her movements in the bathroom. He wondered if her offer was still open, and if she would welcome him into her personal space. Since they had made the move to live together, something had changed inside him. His priorities had changed seemingly overnight, taking him by complete surprise.

Little changes affected him, things that he'd always taken for granted before. When he'd asked her to move in with him, he wasn't driven by some primal desire to settle down. He'd woken one morning to find her draped across his body, breathing deeply and completely beautiful. He could remember how he had a sudden surge of love, taking him by complete surprise. He had loved her for so many years, but nothing had ever felt like this before. This was powerful and just the thought of her took his breath away. That was the moment he realised he couldn't sleep without her anymore.

"Hey," her soft voice surprised him as she leaned over the back of the sofa to encircle him within her arms. Her breath fanned his ear as she leaned in to place a kiss onto his neck before drawing away again to rest her hands on his shoulders. "I'm going to bed…don't work too long, okay…"

Michael lifted his hands to hers and held them against his shoulders. Leaning his head back he looked up at her and smiled as she leaned over him to place an upside down kiss onto his lips. When she drew away she kissed her way back up his face, peppering tiny pecks against his skin before coming to rest her forehead against his. Her fingers loosened around his as she stood up again and started to turn away but he caught hold of her hand, stopping her movements. She turned back around ready to tell him that she understood his work was important and to not worry about her, but the look in his eyes caused her words to die on her lips.

Shifting sideways Michael pulled her back towards him, holding onto her hand as she moved around the sofa to sit down next to him. She watched him for a few moments uncertain of what he wanted to say to her. His mouth opened and closed and she couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips.

"It's okay," she told him softly, hoping she could ease the uncertainty in his eyes.

"Huh?" he asked her then, shaking his head in confusion. "What is?"

Fiona shook her head incredulously as she lifted her fingers to play with the ends of his hair. Leaning closer to kiss his cheek she moved away from him, sighing softly before she laid her head against his shoulder.

"Do you remember that small hotel room in Dublin?" she asked. "The bed squeaked every time we moved…"

How could he ever forget it, he wondered. She had taken his breath away that night too.

"I remember," he told her as he planted a kiss into her hair. "You were worried about making too much noise!"

Fiona chuckled softly and lifted herself up to look into his eyes. _"Me?"_ she asked incredulously. "You were the one who wanted to sleep on the floor because you were worried my brother's would find out about us."

"_Patrick_ made sure I knew exactly what he'd do to me if he ever found out I'd been sleeping with you…"

"Oh Michael…" she purred his name as she walked her fingertips over his shirt covered chest. "I don't remember getting _any_ sleep that night…"

Michael's smile lit his face when the memories of that night bombarded his mind. They had been dancing around each other for weeks, stealing kisses in the shadows and touching whenever they could. Who would have thought after their first time together in that little hotel room in Dublin that they would still be together after all these years. He'd known, even back then, that he'd fallen hard.

"Wanna test the bed?" he asked her then, the smile on his face bringing her eyes to his.

"I thought you had work to do," she told him with an incredulous smile even as she started to move away. "Finish your work Casanova…come find me when you're done…"

Before she could leave, Michael pulled her back to him and turned his head to place soft kisses in her hair, his touch willing her to understand just how much he adored her. Fiona eyes slipped closed when his fingers glided over her face to stroke her cheeks gently. He leaned closer towards her, his breath warm against her face. She opened her eyes to see him dangerously close to her lips

She smiled, leaning closer to plant a kiss on his lips only to pull back again. "Are you trying to tell me you've finished your work?" She smiled again, letting her lips linger close to his once more, aching to kiss him. "Because you know I'll finish what you started…"

"I like the sound of that," he groaned, losing his voice as their lips met again, meshing together in a powerful kiss.

Michael pulled her closer, moving his head so he could better accommodate her probing fingers that eased their way into his shirt. He was totally lost in her kisses, reeling in total surrender as her fingers expertly pulled his shirt undone to roam his chest, causing tremors throughout his body.

Moving her legs, Fiona lifted up to straddle his thighs without breaking the kiss, laying into him with a rising wave of passion that only grew in intoxicating power with every second that passed.

A phone ringing broke their spell and they groaned into each other as their lips broke apart, both of them gasping for breath.

"Maybe they'll go away," she whispered, as she moved her mouth to the side of his head, her lips nipping his earlobe only to lick it with her tongue causing him to groan again.

"I…should get…" his voice hissed through her soft ministrations as he fumbled blindly for the phone on the arm of the sofa. He groaned again when her lips travelled lower, lavishing his throat to send waves of fire throughout his body.

Pressing the phone on, he rammed it against his ear and took a breath before he heard Agent Pearce's voice at the other end. Fiona's fingers danced over his skin, followed by her lips as she sent molten sparks into him. Her nimble fingers unbuckled his belt and expertly opened the cloth barrier between them, leaving him exposed to her skilful touch.

"Uh…" he tried to control his breathing and hoped Agent Pearce hadn't heard the hitch in his voice. "It's going…as…" he gasped in a breath and swallowed hard, trying to ignore what Fiona was doing to him. He coughed a little and tried again. "It's going well…I've typed up…the…" he gasped again and slammed his eyes closed when Fiona moved lower to encircle the very essence of him in her hand. "Report…I've typed up the…report…I'll uh…be in touch…"

Switching off the phone with trembling fingers he held it in his hand as she kissed her way back up his body to descended on him once more. She reached over to the phone in his hand, taking it from him to throw it somewhere onto the floor.

"She's gonna be mad I cut her off," he grinned, his voice lost somewhere between ecstasy and lust as she drove his senses into overdrive with her touch.

"Probably," she whispered close to his lips as she pulled herself up to loom over him again. Her eyes drank in his features, taking every ounce of love she felt, pouring it into him as she worshipped his body with her own.

She met his mouth, closing the distance between them to seal them together. She ran her tongue along his lips, enticing him to take her as she opened to him, plunging her tongue into his mouth.

Michael's head was spinning, his whole body craving her touch as she slid her hands over him, causing every part of him to come alive. She ground against him, pulling her lips from his in a strangled gasp as his hands slipped beneath the robe she wore to slide it from her shoulders, pushing it away from her body.

Fiona's eyes closed in surrender when his touch ignited her to leave a trail of fire over her skin until she couldn't take anymore. Opening her eyes, she stilled her movements, only lasting for a few seconds until her body cried out for him. Moving forward, she attacked him neck, licking his skin as she kissed her way back towards his mouth again, taking his breath in a powerful, earth-shattering kiss. Their arms and legs entangling into a passionate embrace as she moved down to take him inside her, her sudden movements a welcome surprise for his waiting body.

He gasped into her mouth fuelling her desires and spurring her on as she took control. She moved on him to take him deeper, propelling him to the edge of passion to topple over the edge with him. They clung to each other, breathing erratically as they fluttered back down to earth.

"Michael…" she panted his name, kissing his slick chest only to lean forward against him, sliding her arms up around his shoulders.

Michael held her tightly, his heart rate pounding inside his ears as he tried to slow his breathing. He had never felt so alive in his entire life, or felt so loved before. Bringing his hands up to her head, he lifted her slightly above him so he could see into her eyes.

"Wanna try the bed now?" she whispered breathlessly as his lips met hers again...

End


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